HOMILY FOR 22ND DECEMBER (2)
HOMILY FOR 22ND DECEMBER.
THEME: The Almighty has done great things for me.
BY: Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA.
*READINGS OF THE DAY*
1 Samuel 1:24-28
Res psalm 1 Samuel 2:1,4-8
Luke 1:46-56
*LITURGICAL COLOUR*
PURPLE/VIOLET
*INTRODUCTION*
The prayer of Mary in today’s gospel reading has become the prayer of the followers of her son. Many of us will have prayed her prayer. It has been incorporated into the Evening Prayer of the church. It is a prayer that acknowledges the way that God has worked in her life, ‘the Almighty has done great things for me’. Mary’s prayer encourages us to reflect on how God may be working in our own lives, and to give thanks to God for that work. At the beginning of his letter to the Philippians, Saint Paul declares, ‘I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ’. God has begun a good work among us and within us.
RELATED: HOMILY FOR DECEMBER 22ND.
*ABOUT THE GOSPEL OF TODAY*
Mary’s prayer which we have just heard was in response to Elizabeth’s greeting. It was as if these two women brought out the best in each other. In response to Mary’s initial greeting of Elizabeth Luke tells us that Elizabeth was ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’. In response to Elizabeth’s greeting of Mary, Mary is filled with the spirit of prayer. The presence of Mary to Elizabeth enabled Elizabeth to grow in her relationship with the Lord, she was filled with the Holy Spirit. The presence of Elizabeth to Mary enabled Mary to grow in her relationship with the Lord, she was filled with the spirit of prayer.
*CONCLUSION*
Like Mary, we are invited to recognize God’s good work in our lives and praise God for it. We are sometimes more prone to seeing our failings, what we perceive to be our own not-so-good work. We need to be realistic about our failings and weaknesses, but not to the point where we become blind to the good things, the good work, that God is doing in our lives. God will continue to do God’s good work in our lives if we are open to it and desirous of it. In her prayer, Mary sings of a God who has filled the hungry with good things. If we hunger for the good things that God wants to do in our lives, for the good work God wants to accomplish with us, then God will satisfy our hunger. As Jesus says in one of the Beatitudes, ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for what is right, for they will be filled’.
The Lord be with You!
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